Rosie's Games

Chapter 45: Rabbit 2

Princess Isabel paled as she grabbed the attendant's arm for support.

They had been walking for hours without resting. Unlike other nobles, the Duke insisted that they walk on foot. Since it was the first time that the Duke talked to her, she immediately got excited and agreed to doing it, despite knowing that she would not be able to walk that far in her heavy dress.

Still, she persevered thinking that the Duke would help her out.

She was wrong.

The Duke must have purposely done something like this to embarrass her or to try and leave her behind! He never once looked at her since they entered the forest, not even a glance. Despite her attempts at having a conversation, the Duke ignored her and just hastened his steps instead.

The embarrassment that she felt was too much, she could no longer speak. She felt like a fool, trying to talk to someone who clearly disliked her. However, the Princess wasn't some coward that would shrink in front of challenges.

She grew up pampered, but this didn't mean that her father, the Duke of Duance, didn't teach her anything. She wasn't someone that would give up easily.

So, she persevered and asked the attendants to help her.

She cut her dress shorter, revealing her ankles. The Princess no longer cared about etiquette. All she wanted was to prove that she could do it and that she isn't a woman to be trifled with. Challenges? She can get through them if it meant proving to someone that they were wrong about her!

She was that stubborn!

"It's alright, you do not need to tell him," she said. She refused to believe that the Duke wasn't feeling anything after walking that much.

They had been walking in this direction for hours! Surely, he was planning to rest, to eat lunch or even to have some water, right?

"Your Highness, someone might be ahead of us," one of the attendants said.

"Someone?" she frowned. To enter the forest, they first needed to use a teleportation portal that all of the seven Empires possessed. This portal was going to send them to various entrances of the forest. This assured all of the hunters that it wouldl be difficult for them to meet another hunter.

But this time, it had only been a few hours and they already meeting someone? How was that possible?

However, her questions met their answers when she saw Rosalind standing near a tree, holding a rabbit. Her mood immediately turned worse.

"Why are you here?" she couldn't help but asked when Rosalind met her gaze.

"I don't I don't understand"

"Please Lady Rosalind, let us stop pretending, shall we? We are alone here. There is no need to act innocent in front of someone like me!" the Princess hissed. She found a large dead log not far from Rosalind and didn't hesitate to sit down.

She was too exhausted to care or even examined it. Since she cut her dress, her feet were starting to get numb and she didn't know if this was because of exhaustion or if it was from the wet greeneries that hit her skin.

"Get that rabbit and cook it," Princess Isabel pointed at the rabbit in Rosalind's hand. It was still alive, so Rosalind must have just caught it so she could eat it for lunch.

Just as the attendant walked towards Rosalind, the rabbit suddenly jumped out of Rosalind's arms, hopping towards the bushes.

"You How dare you let it go!"

"I didn't," Rosalind said. "Perhaps your presence just scared her? I heard animals are very sensitive to people with sinister intentions."

The Princess snorted, Rosalind just showed her fangs! She felt triumphant! She immediately looked at the Duke, only to realize that the man didn't seem to care about any of this. Instead, he handed Rosalind a

"What is that?" she asked.

"It's for the horse," Rosalind said. "There is no need to ride a horse as there is a lot of mud and the terrain is going to change from now on. We need to let it go back."

"Go back?"

"Your Highness, it seems that his Grace has a special method to make the horse go back," one of the attendants quickly explained. "I believe this method is popular in the North and areas where there is a large forest."

Princess Isabel pouted. "Aren't we going to stop and have some food?" In this hunt, no one was allowed to bring food and they could only eat what they managed to catch in the next three days and two nights.

She immediately looked at the attendants.

"What?" she asked.

"Your Highness" one of the attendants hesitated for a few seconds. "It's just that we have not hunted a single animal. We just walked."

Princess Isabel gritted her teeth in silence.

Good! Very Good! She was too exhausted because she had been walking for hours and now, she did not have anything to eat! She glared at Rosalind.

She refused to believe this was just a coincidence! The Duke and Rosalind must have talked about this in advance! This should be the reason why the Duke rushed to this area!

With that in mind, Princess Isabel couldn't help but feel aggrieved. She begged her uncle, the current Emperor to become the Duke's partner! She thought she would finally have the time to show the Duke her good side.

She bit her lip, shame filled her heart.

She used her spare time to practice roasting food just to show off to the Duke! She burned her once flawless fingers trying to learn how to make the perfect roasted meat! Then this happened

Princess Isabel felt tears threatening to flow down her cheeks, and she immediately turned her face away. Despite her anger, she wasn't going to let Rosalind win by crying in front of her!

"Young Princess it seems that the Duke caught some snakes just now. We will start roasting them. Please"

"I will do it!" Princess Isabel immediately said while looking at Rosalind and the Duke. "I will take care of the snakes!" she said, determination apparent in her eyes.